If
we look at the information released by the National Crime Records Bureau for
2002, it would be clear that Torture/Cruelty tends to account for the highest
share in total CAW in the state : more than half in 2002 as against less than
one-third for all-India ; in the same year; rape accounted for 10 percent of
total CAW here as against 11 per cent ofall India
total CAW; molestation constituted 11 per cent of the West Bengal total CAW
while in all-India CAW this proportion was more than double at 23 per cent. The
following two Charts illustrate the relative shares of each of the seven listed
categories of CAW in total CAW:
Chart V I with respect to in West Bengal and Chart V II with respect to all
India.

Table
V 2
provides crime figures relating to incidence of CAW for the years
2000-2003 and also the rate of CAW per one lakh population in West Bengal and
India in 2001, as these rates indicate a more realistic comparative picture of
crime. It will be seen that West Bengal is better situated as compared to
all-India, with respect to the rates for totalCAW (8.2 per lakh population), as well as individual components of CAW
(except dowry death, which is on par with all-India). It will also beseen in Table
V 3 that West Bengal's share of the all-India incidence of rape, dowry death
and total CAW has remained below the state's share in the all-India population
(roughly 8 per cent ).Surprisingly, however, CAW as proportion of total IPC
crimes in the state(9-11 per cent)
has remained higher than the comparable all-India figures (6-8 per cent).

Table
V 4presents state wise figuresfor
1998 and 2001 relating to incidence of CAW in 12 selected states ; each state's
rate of CAW ; its share in all-India CAW as well as its ranking among 28 states
of India interms of the last two
criteria.

Among
all offences perpetrated against women, the most heinous are the crimes of rape
and dowry death. "The threat of rape clips the wings of a woman ready to
take flight into freedom and achievement. It cripples her mentally and hurts her
physically beyond the imagination of anyone. Dowry death, on the other hand,
arises out of a mentality that denies the woman unequal status and respect even
in supposedly her 'ownhouse' " [i].
Table V 5
provides statewise figures for these two crimes per one crorepopulation. Only three or four states have figures that are lower than
those for West Bengal. This Table also underscores the fact that the conviction
rates for CAW - for example rape - tend to be appreciably lower than those for
IPC crimes as a whole. A worrisome trend is the proclivity towards imposition of
dowry in communities where it was once conspicuous by its absence. As part of a
project on the status of Muslim women in West Bengal, the Women's Studies
Research Center of Calcutta University undertook a villagesurveyin the district of
South 24 Parganas in 1998. Almost all the Muslim families reported dowry
transactions in cash or kind or both while elderly women over 70 years of age
reported that they had never encountered dowry or 'groom price' in their youth. [ii].
Dowry has also begun to make its appearance among the tribal communities of West
Bengal [iii].

Table
V 5 shows the rising incidence of sexual assault against women in West
bengal districts in the form of rape including gang rape), molestation and
eve-teasing, together with the number of persons arrested in connection with
these crimes. According to information available for 2003, prevalence of CAW was
more pronounced in the districts of North and South 24 Parganas , Bardhaman,
Murshidabad, Nadia , Jalpaigiri and Koch Behar. District-wise incidence oftorture/cruelty, dowry deathsand total CAW in West Bengal and the the number of persons arrested for
CAW during 1995 and 2001 are provided in Appendix
table AV 1.

Table
V 6 shows the rising incidence of sexual assaultagainst women in West Bengal districtsin the form of rape(including gang rape), molestation and eve-teasing, together with the numbers persons arrested.According to information available for 2003, prevalence of CAW was more
pronounced in the districts of North and South 24 Parganas , Bardhaman ,
Murshidabad, Nadia , Jalpaiguri and Koch Behar. District-wise incidence of
torture/cruelty, dowry death and total CAW in West Bengal and number of persons
arrested for CAW during 1995 and 2003 are providedin Appendix
Table AV 1.

Anotableinitiative
on the part of the state governmenthas
been theextension of AWCs underthe ICDS scheme to the red light areas of Kolkata and some of the
districts.Four NGOs (SANLAAP,
SEVAC, REACH and SLRTC) are currently working in partnership with state agenciestowards the objective of rehabilitating the victims oftrafficking and prostitution.[i]
These victims suffer from gross violation of human rights,physical and mental trauma andgrave
risk of STD and HIV/AIDS. Facilities for rehabilitation of victimsare minimal compared to the dimensions of the problem. Against this
dismal backdrop it is only concerted action at different levels that can bring
about perceptible change : the family has to accept and support women who wish
to return to normal life; community leaders have to engage in awareness building
regarding trafficking and keep track of suspicious events concerning women at
the local level and effective steps have to be taken to ensure economic
stability of distressed households that are typically open to the risk of
trafficking. One encouraging trend has been a decline in the number of minor
girls forced into prostitution in Kolkata's red light area of Sonagachi - from
about 25 per cent in 1992 to less than 4 per centby 1998, as reported in a survey carried out by the All India Institute
of Hygiene and Public Health (Kolkata). [ii]

During
the NGO Meet on Empowerment of Women held in Kolkata on 3rd June
2004, under the joint auspices of the National Commission for Women and the West
Bengal Commission for Women, attention was drawn to the evil of witch hunting, which still occurs in the districts of Jalpaiguri and Malda, specially
in areas with scant medical and infrastructural facilities. Speedy introduction
of basic facilities in the interior areas of districts with large tribal
populations was advocated as a strong safeguard against the atrocity of witch
hunting. NGOs also drew attention to the need of expanding services to meet
demands of more and more women reporting crime and the need of spreading these
services beyond Kolkata and South Bengal, where these tend to be concentrated.

The
National Commission for Women held an interactive meeting with senior officials
of the GOWB in Kolkata on 4th June 2004. The Director General of
Police (DGP) West Bengal stated in this meeting that in view of the rising
incidence of crimes against women, top priority was beinggiven to monitoring and controlling offences against women. Under a new
system, reports of CAW coming in from all over the state are reviewed by the DGP
every evening and necessary directions conveyed to the respective district
police authorities. The DGP stated that there were no 'mahila ' thanas in the
state but there were 'mahila desks' at all urban police stations and apart from
the CAW wing at the West Bengal Police Headquarters in Kolkata , there are
special cells for CAW in each district. There are also special Family
Counselling Centresrun by the West
Bengal police- 'Seva'located in theCriminal InvestigationDepartment
(CID) , Kolkata and the recently opened 'Asha' in Siliguri. Presentlywomen under threat of violencecan
access seven helplines which function with the help of NGOs. Another relevant
step taken is the launching of the Missing Persons Website which provides
information on missing women, recovery of such women and unidentified dead
bodies.

We
now come to the city of Kolkata. Table
V 7 presents CAW figures in the metro city of Kolkata for the years 1995 and2000-2003, while Table V 8 presents the six major crimes against women
per one lakh population in the metro cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai apart
from Kolkata. Table
V 8 shows that specific crimes against women have increased from a total of
554 in 1995 to 679 in 2003; it also brings into focus the rising trend in cases
under section 498A of IPC relating to torture/cruelty by husband/relatives :
from 111 in 1995 the number has doubled to 222 in 2003, whereas the number of
rape cases show a decrease from 54 to 36 between 1995 and 2003. There is a
noticeable spurt in cases of molestation 9185 in 2003), and sexual harassment (
57 in 2003) and murder ( 52 in 2003). Though the rising incidence of CAW in
Kolkata is a cause for grave concern, it is a small consolation to find that in
2001 this city had the lowest crime rates per one lakh population with respect
to each of the components ofCAW.
This applies to rates of rape, kidnapping and abduction, dowry death,
molestation and sexual harassment.